the face I wear

sticksandstoneslive

the face I wear,

I didn't choose,

so why do you judge me by it?

the color of my hair,

too,

came with this machine,

this avatar,

I found myself trapped within at birth,

so why make jokes about it?

my body too, was not my fault,

and I didn't buy my skin 

color in a bottle on a shelf

maps.grida

I gained them all

the same way you gained yours:

it was an accident of birth.

For some it's lucky;

for some it's not;

our challenge is to see beyond

and behind

the superficial artifices

we face everyday,

and find the fellow soul

beneath.

It's not my fault,

the way I look to you;

I only wish you

would give me a chance

to be not the person you think I am,

but rather the person

I long to be.